The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-05-11
FARM WORK FOR MAY.
How to Make COttOn..-HOw to Kill
GraSs---HOw to make Farming

How to Make COtfOn..-HOw to kIll
Grass--How to make Farming
Pay.
The fight with grass and weeds has now
fairly begun. II the first working is properly
done, success is easy; If not, the struggle Is
grass is hardly visible. the farmers fears arc
not fully aroused, and he is tempted to &C
over his crop hastily and perhaps carclesSly
little loose dirt from hoe or plow hides bui
does not smother the young grass, and the
first rain uncovers it and stimulates 10 rapid
growth. Where is the farmer OF any expert
ence who has not felt the power Of May
grass? 1t comes up round the cotton plan,
and hugs ii closely; 1t sends its roots down
quickly into the manure intended for the
cotton, and grows with amazing rapidity
In hoeing it, the dirt is apt TO be taken from
the cotton and the latter falls over. or the
hand is delayed to hill it up again. The Time
to strangle the demon is ut its birth-kill II by
the time or before, it reaches the surface
The lightcst, slightest stirring Of the soil Will
then destroy it. Hence the excellent work OF
the harrow if started in time. 1t will kill the
grass but not the cotton. But it must be star
ted in tlmc-just as the latter also comes up;
later than that, it will only help to cultivate
it and make it grow faster. But the work
may also be well done with {: sweep properly
set and started in time. The wing must run
so flat as to throw little dirt; this allows the
siding to be very close, and all the grass to be
cut, except very narrow strip of it along the
drill. Now if the work is done early, when
the grass is just coming up, enough dirt may
be thrown upon it TO Kill that on this strip
without covering or mqShing down the young
cotton. But everything depends on doing the
work at the proper time.
Another mistake often made Is to follow the
plow Immediately with the hoe; tho result Is
the dirt thrown on the grass by the plow Is
removed by the hoe and the grass thereby
uncovered. Follow the plow with the hoe at
an interval of week, and II possible, let the
plows follow closely on tic hoes so as to
| Srp nth nrnyerpl IL
serve: the plOwS are to be started the first
time very early, just rs the cotton fairly be.
gins to come up; If this Is done, the hoes can
afford to wait q week. But if the plowing is
delayed till the cotton is one or two weeks
old. the hoes cannot he held back because the
cotton will need thinning too badly. AS
stated before, everything depends upon
doing work at the proper time; this is equally
important as doing it in proper manner. II
has always seemed to us that the "blocking"
out Of cotton was labor lost. 1t can he brought
blocked as after. Early and frequent plow-
ingS are needed TO break crusts and keep the
plants healthy and growing, but do not start
the hoes till the proper time to bring the cot
been sown too thick, or if the plants have
been judiciously thinned out hy Il harrow,
two plowings may be given before the first
hoeing. The pillow ought to do everything but
much on hoe work; ii is too expensive and
eats up too much of the profits; never lose
sight of the great problem OF reducing the
| cost Of production never forget that horse.
machines than human hands.
Cotton calls FOR frequent working IN It's
early stages; 1t is important to push it rap
| idly beyond the point where it suffers from
| "sorc Shins" and lice. In the oldcn time ii
| was thought best to side cotton with scooter,
shovel or other dccp-running plows. Ample
necessary nor desirable. The crop is best
cultivated from beginning to end with sweep
or scrape. set to run quite shallow. \ soil
deeply broken before planting, but allowed to
provided that the surface is kept stirred y
seems most conducive to fruitinG. Aside
| from the matter of roOt-cutting, there seems
to be decided advantage in shallow culture
| TO Il cotton crop. II makes the growth steady
and uniform, and nothing contributes more
than such growth TO fruiting and the holding
on to fruit. Rapid growth, followed by q
sudden check, is the chief cause of shedding
We cannot always prevent the check, but We
may do something towards putting tho crop
| in condition TO receive it with least injury.
The object OF the farmers should be TO keep
his cotton growing steadily, but not too rap
idly. Rapid growth is always dangerous il
makes sappy, tender plant, extremely
sensitive to every adverse influence.
| During the next three months dry weather
may be looked for, in the natural course oi
| things in our climate. How to ward OIL its
effects should be kept steadily in view in all
the operations OF the farm, How best to keep
| the reserved moisture in the soil Is the great
question. Flat cultivation stands first and
foremost among the means for accomplishing
this. Evaporation is directly proportional to
surface and surface is greatly increased by
ridging. High beds increase the surface al
least onc.siXth, and increase evaporation &c
throwing dirt to plants is to cover up grass
but if grass is killed just as 1t comes up early
in the season, very little drifting Will be need
ed. There Is no benefit to a plantin hillipg II
up; nature provides properly what part ofa
plant should be above and what below the
surface. Hortculturists will tell you that
fruit trees are often injured by setting then
grew Now, hiling plant Is virtually set
ting it deeper in the ground. If dirt has beer